Body support for personal wear



July 16, 1963 V J. A. MORGAN 3,097,640

BODY SUPPORT FOR PERSONAL WEAR Filed June 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 nvmvron; JAMES Aumouv MORGAN July 16, 1963 J. A. MORGAN BODY SUPPORT FOR PERSONAL WEAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed June 8, 1961 INVENTOR. JAMES Amuouv MORGAN United States Patent 3,097,640 BODY SUPPORT FOR PERSONAL WEAR James Anthony Morgan, Leighton Buzzard, England, as-

signor to Solarota Limited, London, England, a British company Filed June 8, 1961, Ser. No. 115,688 1 Claim. (Cl. 128--78) This invention relates to the provision of an improved body support for personal wear. The support may be in the form of a belt, band, corset, suspender belt or the like hereinafter referred to simply as a belt.

I have found, in many cases of displacement of the sacro-iliac joint, that there appears to be a rotation of the ilium forward on the sacrum, that is to say that one or both :il-ia appear in many cases of displacement to be angularly displaced forwardly relatively to the sacrum which forms the fulcrum. The underlying idea of the invention is to prevent or minimise this forward rotation and to help during the healing stage after a displacement has been reduced.

According to the present invention I provide a belt comprising a band of flexible material adapted to encircle the body of the wearer in the pelvic area and provided with two substantially vertical pull members so disposed that the members register in front of the ends of the ilium on each side, the arrangement being such that when the belt is on a pull is [exerted backwards tending to keep the ilium back in its normal position. The two members may be adjustably mounted on the belt so that the belt can be made to fit people of different sizes.

Each pull member may comprise a relatively rigid backing and a pad of soft material, the backing being shaped to fit the bone end of the wearer.

I have therefore provided a belt tor personal wear adapted when in position to pull back on the two arms formed by the so that a contra-rotation is produced to reduce or prevent displacement.

If desired, I may use a belt or the like made wholly or partly of webbing or other suitable material fashioned so as to be secured at the back by a buckle Or other means, pockets being provided at each front side to receive the bars. In another construction the belt may fasten at the front. The belt may be made of elastic material.

The pull members themselves may, if desired, be partially hook shaped so as to fit the bone.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect reference is now directed to the accompanying drawings in whiehr FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a belt according to the invention illustrated in body fitting position;

FIGURE 2 is an inside view with the belt removed from the body and opened out;

FIGURE 3 is an outside view of the belt illustrated in FIGURE 2.

Referring firstly to FIGURE 1, reference 1 indicates the sacrum and 2 and 3 are the light and left ilia respectively of a wearer. The belt which is indicated generally by the reference 4 comprises a length 5 of fabric with any suitable connecting means such as buckles 6 at the front provided on tapes 7. Referring especially to FIGURE 3 the buckles 6 are adjustable relatively to the tapes 7 so that a measure of tightening or loosening of the belt 4 can be effected in this way. As illustrated in FIGURE 3 the tapes 7 are connected by stitching to webs 8 extending transversely of the belt, the webs 8 being stitched firmly in position. Adjacent to the webs 8 at each end of the belt are transverse loop members 9 and a tape 10 at each end is stitched to the web 8, is

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then passed under the loop 9 and is provided with a buckle 11 intermediate its length.

The belt 4 is also provided with strengthened transverse webs 12, 13 adjacent to the middle of the belt and each provided with eyelets 14. The buckles 11 are also provided with eyelets and as illustrated a lace 15 passes through the eyelets in the buckles 11 and in the webs 12 and 13 the two free ends of the lace being connected together as by tying. It will be understood that the belt may be tightened or loosened substantially by adjustin ent of the buckles 11 along the tapes 10 to increase or decrease the tension on the lace 15. The centre part 16 of the belt between the webs 12 and 13 may be loose when the belt is tightened up which brings the webs 12 and 13 closer together.

The lacing may be efiected in this manner starting irom the join at the bottom. One end of the lace is passed up through the bottom eyelet 14 in the web 13 on the right, then across to the bottom eyelet in the buckle 11 ion the left of FIGURE 3, down through this eyelet, up through the next eyelet in the buckle 11, across to the second from the bottom eyelet in the web 13 down through this eyelet, across to the third from the bottom eyelet in the web 12 up through this eyelet, across to the top eyelet in the buckle 11 on the right of FIGURE 3, down through this eyelet, across to the web 12, down through the top eyelet, across to the web 13, up through the top eyelet, across to the buckle 11 at the left hand side of FIGURE 3, up through the top eyelet across to the web 13, down through the eyelet one from the top in the web 13 and soon.

On the inside, see especially FIGURES 1 and 2 the belt has shaped pull members or hooking members 16 and 17. Each pull member comprises a curved and! slotted substantially rigid backing plate with an inner soft pad of sponge rubber, [foamed plastic or the like. The pull members are each secured to the belt by passing a webbing tape 18 through the slot referred to above in the backing plate and the pad is secured to the back ing plate in any convenient manner.

In operation the elt is put on with the centre part 16 in the small of the back and with the pull members engaging with the front of the ends of the ilium on each side. The various buckles referred to above are then tightened up so that the belt causes the required degree of backward pull to be exerted on the ends of the ilium at each sidle.

What I claim is:

A belt comprising a band of flexible material adapted to encircle the body of the wearer in the pelvic area, a pair of hooking pull members secured to the inside of said band and disposed to hook around and engage the forward ends of the ilium on each side, means for adjusting and shortening the length of the rear portion of the band between said pull members, said rear band! portion adjusting means capable of being initially adjusted to cause said hooking pull members to engage the forward ends of the and tend to pull the same rearwardly with a desired force, and means for adjusting the length of the forward portion of said band, said forward band portion adjusting means allowing for a desired fit about the body of the wearer after the rearward pull on the ilium has been set. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

